Shantae and the Half-Genie Kickstarter
by VGMC
Summary: Shantae appeals to her friends to help fund the next game's kickstarter.


Shantae was in a good mood. She had just been told that she was going to be starring in a brand new, HD adventure funded by Kickstarter. The catch, of course, was that the game had to reach its goal of $400,000 in order for that to happen. Shantae truly wanted this game to get made so more people could experience her adventures. As such, she decided to visit her friends and see if they would be willing to contribute.

Uncle Mimic was on board, as were her other friends in Scuttle Town. That left only two other people she needed to visit. She wasn't too sure these two would agree immediately but she had a trick up her sleeve: a special, temporary power granted to her by the kind folks over at Way Forward. She went ahead and transformed into her mermaid form and made for the ship on the horizon.

Risky Boots was in her cabin, making preparations for her next raid on the people of Scuttle Town, when she heard a commotion up on deck. She quickly headed up and was surprised to see a green-skinned mermaid surrounded by her tinkerbats. Risky simply stared until her eyes met the mermaid's. Eyes she knew all too well. "Shantae!"

Upon hearing her name, the mermaid transformed back into her half-genie form. Before Risky could order her minions to attack, Shantae held up a little white flag. "Wait, Risky Boots, I'm not here to fight."

Risky found herself somewhat relieved that Shantae had not discovered her latest plot and come to foil her plans. "You have two minutes to explain yourself before I make you walk the plank."

"There's something I really need your help with that I think will be of benefit to you as well."

"How could something that helps you be of benefit to me as well?

Shantae held out a folder of papers. Risky motioned for one of the tinkerbats to take the folder and bring it to her. She looked over the cover and read it aloud: "'Shantae: Half-Genie Hero Kickstarter Project'? How meta. This is one of those things that won't get made if it doesn't reach its target, right?"

"That's right."

"Hmm. Come inside a moment while I look over this." Risky returned to her cabin and Shantae followed, the tinkerbats completely unable to comprehend what was happening.

Once inside, Shantae sat in a chair and waited while Risky sat behind her desk and looked over the papers. "Goal of $400,000 and 26 days remaining... HD adventure... Stretch goals... $500K Risky Mode, ooooh... bonus chapters... extra costumes... Pledge Rewards... early access... name in the credits... design an enemy... Not bad."

"It's still ongoing and I was hoping you'd contribute," Shantae explained.

"Nah," Risky replied, throwing the folder into the trashcan. "I'll just let other people put money forward and pirate the game when it comes out."

"I thought you might say something like that," Shantae replied, standing up. "And so did the people over at Way Forward. Which is why they gave me something special that should help change your mind." Shantae reached into a pouch on her belt and withdrew a beautiful red jewel. It was about the size of a marble, just the right size to fit comfortably in Shantae's belly button. With the jewel in place, Shantae raised her arms and began moving her hips from side to side.

Risky had been curious what Shantae was going to produce that would change her mind and thought she was going to use the jewel to bribe her. Instead, she used it as decoration for one of her silly belly dances. Still, Risky did somewhat enjoy watching these dances, even if they did usually resulted in Shantae transforming into some animal and messing with her plans.

Now that she thought about it, why _did_ she enjoy these dances so much? Maybe it was the graceful, fluid motion with which Shantae moved her body. Maybe it was the captivating way her perfectly formed hips swayed and gyrated. Perhaps it was the young half-genie's natural beauty and well-shaped body. Regardless of the reason, Risky could not take her eyes off Shantae's dancing form. But where her attention was most captured was Shantae's midriff. The jewel in her belly button was shiny and reflected the light around the room in a way that left Risky captivated. Soon, her focus was entirely on the beautiful jewel.

A part of her thought she heard Shantae's voice, but it was distant and hard to make out, yet she still understood every word on some deeper level. "Let my dance and voice fill your mind, Risky Boots. Accept my words as absolutes and my dance as your reward for listening to them. You know that this project is very important to a lot of people and it must succeed."

"Very important... Must succeed..." Risky droned as Shantae's words became engrained into her subconscious mind.

"That's right and you must do everything in your power to help them succeed."

"Everything in power... succeed..."

"Very good, Risky. You're such a good girl. It feels so good to support the developers like that."

"Good girl... Feels good..."

"Yes. Now, I will leave your ship and you will awaken and follow my suggestions. I will be waiting at my lighthouse just outside of Scuttle Town for you to deliver your contribution."

"Follow suggestions... Deliver contribution..."

Shantae stopped dancing and returned the gem to her pouch. She quickly gathered up the discarded documents and snapped her fingers, causing Risky to snap out of her trance. "Did I change your mind on the situation?" Shantae asked, guiding the conversation in the desired direction.

"Okay, you've convinced me. I'll bring the money by your lighthouse later."

"Okay, see you later then," Shantae said cheerily as she left the cabin and returned to her mermaid form.

"See you later. Aaah, it feels good to support the developers like that... Now, to get the money..."

Shantae's next stop was the forest just outside of Scuttle Town. Rotty Tops was another person Shantae might have some trouble convincing, though not as much as Risky Boots. The two had had their differences in the past but Rotty could usually be counted on when it got right down to it.

She arrived at Rotty's caravan and knocked on the door. The green-skinned zombie girl answered and quickly invited Shantae inside. Despite looking like a room from some long forgotten gothic castle, the interior felt quite homely.

"So? What can I do for ya, snack cakes?"

"Please stop calling me that... Anyway, I have this thing to tell you about." She handed Rotty the documents.

Rotty skimmed over them before looking back at Shantae. "Neat. One of the silhouettes in the 900K stretch goal looks like me."

"So you'll help?" Shantae asked hopefully.

"I'll help if you can beat me in a race. For old time's sake."

"Sorry, Rotty, but I don't have the time for that. I need to get back home soon to wait for Risky Boots' contribution."

"You got _Risky Boots_ to donate money? How?"

"What can I say? I can be very persuasive when I want to be."

"This I've _got_ to see. Tell you what, I'll go back with you and if she really does support the project, we can forget the race and I'll pay up."

"Really? Thanks, Rotty Tops!" Shantae said, hugging her friend tightly.

As Shantae and Rotty Tops approached the lighthouse, they found that most of the town was gathered there along with Risky's ship. At first, Shantae thought they were there to see the spectacle of the great pirate Risky Boots giving money instead of taking it. As they got closer, though, they found that the townspeople were not very happy with Shantae. Luckily, Uncle Mimic was there to calm the townspeople down and bring her to where Risky was stood.

"What happened, Uncle?" Shantae asked as she saw Risky standing next to a large pile of gold and treasure.

"It seems Risky Boots wanted to support the development of the game so she stole money and treasure from the townsfolk to make her pledge."

"She what!?"

"I told you I'd get you the money," said Risky proudly. "500K right here for the Risky Mode. I'll be expecting my rewards later. Bye now." Risky hopped back aboard her ship and was soon gone.

Shantae pulled the pouch from her belt and threw it into the ocean. "Stupid mind control powers..."

"So... about that race," said Rotty.

"Why me?"


End file.
